Mixing Universes
by huanxn
Summary: A story idea in oneshot/drabble form. Death Eaters assault Harry and Sora, who's somehow ended up on Earth, in the Forbidden Forest. Cloud shows, and all is well. Sora is happy-go-lucky, Harry is preoccupied watching Sora's back, and Cloud is... shocked when Sephiroth shows, wielding (or being wielded by?) a power the blond recognizes as his nightmare from back home: JENOVA.


"_Sectumsempra_!"

Oblivion flashed into existence in Sora's hand. He swung the dark Keyblade, deflecting the spell from its collision course with Harry's head, currently the only body part showing from under the wizard's Invisibility Cloak.

It was, Sora mused, a strange coincidence that he'd ended up on this world. It felt... different. He'd never said so aloud, but the worlds he'd gone to with Goofy and Donald had always felt slightly hazy to him, slightly detached.

This world, this 'Earth', felt just a little more real, somehow.

"Sora!"

A bolt of light took the Keyblade wielder in the shoulder and he pitched back with a shout. His eyes widened upon seeing a wicked, blood-red beam speeding to intercept him midair that he wouldn't be able to block in time. Out of the corner of his battle-sharpened vision, he could see the white magic gather at the tip of Harry's wand in preparation to perform the spell Sora had taught him, but Sora knew the Reflect spell would reach him too late.

A large bar of metal appeared in his vision, blocking the unknown spell, and Sora had the presence of mind to recover and land on his feet, breathing a silent sigh of relief. Harry appeared at his side with a _pop_, and Sora could practically see the wizard slump over in a mixture of relief and exhaustion, before disappearing again, presumably to cover Sora and his protector.

"Always rushing ahead..."

_Always getting into trouble_, Sora knew was implied at the end. He smiled in recognition of the Fusion Swords, and widened it into an irrepressible grin at their wielder. "Am I glad to see you, Cloud!"

"Hm." The corners of Cloud's mouth twitched. "You're hurt."

The green glow of a Cure, a healing spell, washed over Sora's shoulder, and he smiled in thanks. "You're mother-henning again, Cloud."

In retort, Cloud tilted the complete sword at him. The message was clear: _I can send you flying with just one swing of this, and don't you forget it._

Really, it was amazing how much Cloud could say with so little. Sora hastily backed off. "I mean, not that that's a bad thing! No, I mean, every team needs a- wait, where's Harry?"

A resounding _crack_ announced Harry's re-arrival. Barely a nod was given in recognition of Cloud, before uncharacteristically sharp green eyes pinned Sora where he stood. "Are you hurt?"

Sora shouldered the Keyblade, pointing at Cloud with his other thumb. "Nope! This mother-hen took care of- ack!"

A hasty roll let Sora duck under the swinging blade of the Fusion Swords, and he winced at the heavy _whoosh_ of displaced air. Cloud was still in battle-mode.

Rightly so, Sora realized, as his instincts screamed at him. Hearing the singing of a blade rushing through air, he threw himself into a second roll, and barely managed to stand before a crushing presence seemed to loom out of nowhere, threatening to smother him.

_That's not Heartless_.

"Sephiroth." Cloud's voice, low as it was, carried clearly through the night air.

Sora flinched. For all his skill with the Keyblade, Cloud was better, and First Class SOLDIER Sephiroth was just as good as the blond not-quite-SOLDIER. Sora never brought it up after Cloud had explained the history between the two swordsmen from Gaia, but he also never failed to think of it when Sephiroth was brought into the picture.

One quick glance showed him Masamune resting easily in Sephiroth's hand. A second revealed flashes of spellfire through the trees. Sora assumed Harry and whoever else had come as reinforcements were engaged there.

Sora returned his attention to the silver-haired general, who was just finishing up some monologue or other. "- and so you cannot hope to match me, Cloud Strife. My blade will overpower yours as it always has, and you will be-"

"Shut UP!"

Sora had never heard such passion in the soft-spoken swordsman's voice. Cloud rocketed forward, united Fusion Swords already arcing in to deliver a crushing blow. He'd nearly reached Sephiroth, who was shifting to bring Masamune around in a block, when Sora saw it.

Darkness, the kind he'd always associated with Heartless, was swirling around Sephiroth's tall form. Sora, along with Cloud, had more than adequate experience fighting the darkness, but this one was unfamiliar, shot through with swirls of a malevolent green.

Shoving aside Sephiroth's fear-inducing presence, Sora reached into his pocket and grasped a second keychain, _willing_ Metal Chocobo into existence just as the Fusion Swords met Masamune with a resounding screech.

A dark chuckle echoed unsettlingly, and Sora realized it was coming from a smirking Sephiroth. "Cloud, Cloud, do you not realize? You cannot hope to match this power."

"That's- JENOVA!" Sora heard Cloud's shocked exclamation and made to dash at the pair in blade-lock, a current of unease running through him. They'd defeated Sephiroth before, but who or what was JENOVA? Even as he began to run towards them, Sora watched Cloud shove back Sephiroth, who smiled in a mockery of mirth and humor.

The Heartless' darkness wrapped around Sephiroth, and the green swirls flared into a bright light that Sora squinted against, barely catching Sephiroth's words under the rush of dark power flowing around them.

"It's futile, Cloud. Watch as history repeats itself, and descend into despair." Sephiroth blurred, and the pink ribbon that Cloud always had tied around his arm fluttered to the ground, severed cleanly. Cloud hadn't even had time to so much as grip his sword. As their eyes tracked the progress of the cloth, one pair in confusion, and one pair in uncomprehending disbelief, Sephiroth blurred from sight.

Sora, preparing a Cure to cast over Cloud in case the blow had been deeper, saw a terrible, despairing realization bloom in the blond's blue, mako-green-flecked eyes. He watched as Cloud stretched out a gloved hand, saw the wind magic gather in a spell he recognized as Aero, a spell that helped to lessen the impact of physical blows and also cut enemies that wandered too near.

He heard the high-pitched singing of a thin-bladed sword-_wait, what_-, saw as Cloud's wind began to wrap protectively around Sora's own body, brought both Keyblades up in a desperate, last minute block.

Oblivion and Metal Chocobo were knocked aside by what felt as heavy as a meteor, and a line of terrible, burning pain slashed across his chest, sending Sora flying backwards.

He hit what must have been a tree, and realized dimly that his vision was growing dark around the edges, and he was hearing as if from under water, hearing Cloud's frantic voice as if from far, far away, the words already fading into a muted roar. "Sora! … sorry- … stay-, me … no … Aerith- Gaia, … SEPHIROTH!"

A bright blue glow—spirit energy, Sora identified in some corner of his sluggish mind—seared through his closing eyelids, and he surrendered to the enveloping arms of peaceful unconsciousness.


End file.
